another a single fallen burgher and prevented from adding by importation to their stock of ammunition a single rifle or a single pound of powder.  At the head were farmers who, perhaps, did not know that there existed a theory of warfare and much less knew how recent wars were fought and won.  The means by which thirty thousand farmers of no military training were enabled to withstand the opposition of several hundred thousand well-trained soldiers for the greater part of a year must be attributed to the military system which gave such a marvellous advantage.  Such success as attended the Boer army was undoubtedly the success of its system of warfare against that of the British.

[Illustration:  BOER COMMANDANTS READING MESSAGE FROM BRITISH OFFICERS AFTER THE BATTLE OF DUNDEE]

The Boers themselves were not aware that they had a military system; at least, none of the generals or men acknowledged the existence of such, and it was not an easy matter to find evidences that battles were fought and movements made according to certain established rules which suggested a system.  The Boers undoubtedly had a military plan of their own which was naturally developed in their many wars with natives and with the British troops.  It might not have been a system, according to the correct definition of the term—­it might have been called an instinct for fighting, or a common-sense way of attempting to defeat an enemy—­but it was a matter which existed in the mind of every single citizen of the two Republics.  It was not to be learned from books or teachers, nor could it be taught to those who were not born in the country.  Whatever that system was, it was extremely rudimentary, and was never developed to any extent by the discipline and training which any system necessarily requires in order to make it effective.  There was a natural system or manner used by the Boers when hunting for lion or buck, and it was identically the same which they applied against the British army.  Every Boer was expert in the use of his rifle; he had an excellent eye for country and cover; he was able to tell at a glance whether a hill or an undulation in the ground was suitable for fighting purposes, whether it could be defended and whether it offered facilities for attack or retreat.  Just as every Boer was a general, so it was that every burgher had in his mind a certain military plan fashioned after the needs and opportunities of the country, and this was their system—­a sort of national as well as natural military system.

In the British army, as well as in the other modern armies, the soldier is supposed to understand nothing, know nothing, and do nothing but give obedience to the commands of his officers.  The trained soldier learns little, and is supposed to learn little, of anything except the evolutions he is taught on the drill-grounds.  It is presumed that he is stupid, and the idea appears to be to prevent him from being otherwise in order that he may the better fulfil his